"Cancer, like any other illness, is a bore." -- Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English playwright, screenwriter and author. Born in Leeds, he attended Oxford University where he studied history and performed with The Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research medieval history at the university for several years. His collaboration as writer and performer with Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Peter Cook in the satirical revue Beyond the Fringe at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival brought him instant fame. He gave up academia, and turned to writing full time, his first stage play Forty Years On being produced in 1968.
His output includes The Madness of George III and its film incarnation The Madness of King George, the series of monologues Talking Heads, the play The History Boys, and popular audio books, including his readings of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Winnie-the-Pooh.
"Children always assume the sexual lives of their parents come to a grinding halt at their conception.""Definition of a classic: a book everyone is assumed to have read and often thinks they have.""I write plays about things that I can't resolve in my mind. I try to root things out.""I'm all in favour of free expression provided it's kept rigidly under control.""I've never seen the point of the sea, except where it meets the land. The shore has a point. The sea has none.""If you think squash is a competitive activity, try flower arranging.""Life is generally something that happens elsewhere.""Life is like a box of sardines and we are all looking for the key.""My films are about embarrassment.""Those who have known the famous are publicly debriefed of their memories, knowing as their own dusk falls that they will only be remembered for remembering someone else.""We started off trying to set up a small anarchist community, but people wouldn't obey the rules.""We were put to Dickens as children but it never quite took. That unremitting humanity soon had me cheesed off.""Were we closer to the ground as children, or is the grass emptier now?""Your whole life is on the other side of the glass. And there is nobody watching."
Bennett was born in Armley in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire. The son of a co-op butcher, Bennett attended Leeds Modern School (now Lawnswood School), learned Russian at the Joint Services School for Linguists during his National Service and gained a place at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. However, having spent time in Cambridge during national service, and partly wishing to follow the object of his unrequited love, he decided to apply for a scholarship at Oxford University. He was accepted by Exeter College, Oxford from which he graduated with a first-class degree in history. While at Oxford he performed comedy with a number of eventually successful actors in the Oxford Revue. He was to remain at the university for several years, where he researched and taught Medieval History, before deciding he was not cut out to be an academic.
In August 1960, Bennett, along with Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller, and Peter Cook, achieved instant fame by appearing at the Edinburgh Festival in the satirical revue Beyond the Fringe. After the Festival, the show continued in London and New York. He also appeared in My Father Knew Lloyd George. A highly regarded television comedy sketch series On the Margin (1966) was, unfortunately, erased: the BBC would habitually re-use the then-expensive videotape rather than keep it in the archives.
Around this time Bennett often found himself playing vicars, and claims that as an adolescent he assumed he would grow up to be a Church of England clergyman, for no better reason than that he looked like one.
Bennett's first stage play, Forty Years On directed by Patrick Garland was produced in 1968. Many television, stage and radio plays followed, along with screenplays, short stories, novellas, a large body of non-fictional prose and broadcasting, and many appearances as an actor.
Bennett's lugubrious yet expressive voice (which still bears a strong Leeds accent) and the sharp humour and evident humanity of his writing have made his readings of his own work (especially his autobiographical writing) very popular. His readings of the Winnie the Pooh stories are also widely enjoyed.
Many of Bennett's characters are unfortunate and downtrodden, or meek and overlooked. Life has brought them to an impasse, or else passed them by altogether. In many cases they have met with disappointment in the realm of sex and intimate relationships, largely through tentativeness and a failure to connect with others.
Bennett is both unsparing and compassionate in laying bare his characters' frailties. This can be seen in his television plays for LWT in the late 1970s and the BBC in the early 1980s, and in the 1987 Talking Heads series of monologues for television which were later performed at the Comedy Theatre in London in 1992. This was a sextet of poignantly comic pieces, each of which depicted several stages in the character's decline from an initial state of denial or ignorance of their predicament, through a slow realization of the hopelessness of their situation, and progressing to a bleak or ambiguous conclusion. A second set of six Talking Heads pieces followed a decade later, which was darker and more disturbing.In his 2005 prose collection Untold Stories Bennett has written candidly and movingly of the mental illness that afflicted his mother and other family members. Much of his work draws on his Leeds background and while he is celebrated for his acute observations of a particular type of northern speech ("It'll take more than Dairy Box to banish memories of Pearl Harbor"), the range and daring of his work is often undervalued – his television play The Old Crowd, for example, includes shots of the director and technical crew, while his stage play The Lady in the Van includes two characters named Alan Bennett.
The Lady in the Van was based on his experiences with a tramp called Miss Shepherd who lived on Bennett's driveway in several dilapidated vans for over fifteen years. A radio play of the same title was broadcast on 21 February 2009 on BBC Radio 4, with actress Maggie Smith reprising her role of Miss Shepherd, and Alan Bennett playing himself. The work has also been published in book form. Alan Bennett also adapted "The Lady in the Van" for the stage.
In 1994 Bennett adapted his popular and much-praised 1991 play The Madness of George III for the cinema as The Madness of King George. The film received four Academy Award nominations, including nominations for Bennett's writing and the performances of Nigel Hawthorne and Helen Mirren. It won the award for best art direction.
Bennett's critically-acclaimed The History Boys won three Laurence Olivier Awards in February 2005, for Best New Play, Best Actor (Richard Griffiths), and Best Direction (Nicholas Hytner), having previously won Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and Evening Standard Awards for Best Actor and Best Play. Bennett himself received the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre.
The History Boys also went on to win six Tony Awards on Broadway, including best play, best performance by a leading actor in a play (Richard Griffiths), best performance by a featured actress in a play (Frances de la Tour), and best direction of a play (Nicholas Hytner).
A film version of The History Boys was released in the UK on 13 October 2006. Bennett discussed the play and its themes in an interview on STV.
Bennett wrote the play Enjoy in 1980. It was one of the rare flops in his career and barely scraped a run of seven weeks at the Vaudeville Theatre, in spite of the stellar cast of Joan Plowright, Colin Blakely, Susan Littler, Philip Sayer, Liz Smith (who replaced Joan Hickson during rehearsals) and in his first West End role Marc Sinden. It was directed by Ronald Eyre. But a new production of Enjoy has had critics raving about it during its 2008 UK tour and moved to the West End of London in January 2009. The West End show took over £1m in advance ticket sales and even extended the run to cope with demand. Starring Alison Steadman, David Troughton, Richard Glaves, Carol Macready, Josie Walker and Richard Glaves.
At the National Theatre in late 2009 Nicholas Hytner directed Bennett's newest play, The Habit of Art, about the relationship between the poet W. H. Auden and the composer Benjamin Britten.
In September 2005, Bennett revealed that, in 1997, he had undergone treatment for cancer, and described the illness as a "bore". His chances of survival were given as being "much less" than 50%. He began Untold Stories (published 2005) thinking it would be published posthumously. In the event his cancer went into remission. In the autobiographical sketches which form a large part of the book Bennett writes openly for the first time about his homosexuality (Bennett has had relationships with women as well, although this is only touched upon in Untold Stories). Previously Bennett had referred to questions about his sexuality as being like asking a man after crawling across the Sahara desert to choose between Perrier or Malvern mineral water.
Bennett has lived in Camden Town in London for 31 years, and shares his home with Rupert Thomas, his partner for the last 14 years.
Bennett earned Honorary Membership of The Coterie in the 2007 membership list.
In October 2008 Bennett announced that he was donating his entire archive of working papers, unpublished manuscripts, diaries and books to the Bodleian Library free of charge, stating that it was a gesture of thanks repaying a debt he felt he owed to the UK's social welfare system that had given him educational opportunities which his humble family background would otherwise never have afforded.
Along with the other members of Beyond the Fringe, he is portrayed in the play Come Again, by Chris Bartlett and Nick Awde.
Bennett was made an Honorary Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford in 1987. He was also awarded a D.Litt by the University of Leeds in 1990 and an honorary doctorate from the University of Kingston in 1996.
In 1998 Bennett, however refused an honorary doctorate from Oxford University, in protest at its accepting funding for a named chair in honour of press baron Rupert Murdoch. He also declined a CBE in 1988 and a knighthood in 1996.
The Old Crowd (writer) with Lindsay Anderson (director), LWT 1979
Afternoon Off (actor & writer), 1979
One Fine Day (writer), 1979
All Day On the Sands (writer), 1979
Objects of Affection (also writer), 1982
The Merry Wives of Windsor (actor), 1982
Intensive Care (writer, actor), 1982
An Englishman Abroad (writer), 1983
The Insurance Man (writer), 1986
Breaking Up, 1986
Man and Music (narrator), 1986
Talking Heads (also writer), 1987
The Wind in the Willows , The Willows in Winter (Mole), 1995—1996
The Story Store (Voices and Narrator), 1995
Meg and Mog (Owl)
Down Cemetery Road: The Landscape of Philip Larkin (presenter), 1987
Fortunes of War series (actor), 1987
Dinner at Noon (narrator), 1988
Poetry in Motion (presenter), 1990
102 Boulevard Haussmann (writer), 1990
A Question of Attribution (writer), 1991. Winner, BAFTA Television Awards, 1992.
Selling Hitler, 1991
Poetry in Motion 2 (presenter), 1992
A Night In (presenter), 1992
The Long Summer (narrator), 1993
Portrait or Bust (presenter), 1994
The Abbey (presenter), 1995
A Dance to the Music of Time (actor), 1997
Talking Heads 2, 1998
Telling Tales (writer, as himself), 2000
The South Bank Show (documentary), 2005
Being Alan Bennett (BBC documentary), 2009
Mark Lawson Talks To Alan Bennett (BBC, extended interview), 2009
Bennett On Bennett (5 10-minute monologues, as himself), 2009
Stage
Better Late, 1959
Beyond the Fringe (also co-writer), 1960. Winner of a Special Tony Award, 1963.
The Blood of the Bambergs, 1962
A Cuckoo in the Nest, 1964
Forty Years On (also writer), 1968
Sing a Rude Song (co-writer), 1969
Getting On (writer), 1971
Habeas Corpus (also writer), 1973
The Old Country (writer), 1977
Enjoy (writer), 1980
Kafka's Dick (writer), 1986
A Visit from Miss Prothero (writer), 1987
Single Spies (An Englishman Abroad and A Question of Attribution) (also writer and director), 1988. Winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy 1989.
The Wind in the Willows (adaptation), 1990
The Madness of George III (writer), 1991
Talking Heads (Waiting for the telegram, A Chip in the Sugar, Bed Among the Lentils, A Lady of Letters, Her Big Chance, Soldiering On, A Cream Cracker Under the Settee) (also writer), 1992
The History Boys (writer), 2004; Winner of the Best New Play 2005, the Society of London Theatre Special Award 2005, and the Tony Award for Best Play, 2006.
The Habit of Art (writer), 2009
Film
Long Shot, 1980
Dreamchild (voice only), 1985
The Secret Policeman's Ball, 1986
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, 1982
A Private Function (screenplay), 1986
Pleasure At Her Majesty's, 1987
Prick Up Your Ears (screenplay), 1987
Little Dorrit, 1987
Wind in the Willows animated adaptation, 1994
Parson's Pleasure (writer), 1995
The Madness of King George (screenplay from his play "The Madness of George III" and cameo appearance), 1995
The History Boys (screenplay, from his play of the same name), 2006
Radio
The Great Jowett, 1980
Dragon, 1982
Uncle Clarence (writer, narrator), 1985
Better Halves (narrator), 1988
The Lady in the Van (writer, narrator), 1990
Winnie-the-Pooh (narrator), 1990
Alice in Wonderland and Through The Looking-Glass (narrator, BBC Audiobooks)
Bibliography
Beyond the Fringe (with Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore). London: Souvenir Press, 1962, and New York: Random House, 1963
Forty Years On. London: Faber, 1969
Getting On. London: Faber, 1972
Habeas Corpus. London: Faber, 1973
The Old Country. London: Faber, 1978
Enjoy. London: Faber, 1980
Office Suite. London: Faber, 1981
Objects of Affection. London: BBC Publications, 1982
A Private Function. London: Faber, 1984
Forty Years On; Getting On; Habeas Corpus. London: Faber, 1985
The Writer in Disguise. London: Faber, 1985
Prick Up Your Ears: The Film Screenplay. London: Faber, 1987
Two Kafka Plays. London: Faber, 1987
Talking Heads. London: BBC Publications, 1988; New York: Summit, 1990
Single Spies. London: Faber, 1989 (Olivier Award winner: England's best comedy for 1989)
Single Spies and Talking Heads. New York: Summit, 1990
The Lady in the Van, 1989
Poetry in Motion (with others). 1990
The Wind in the Willows. London: Faber, 1991
Forty Years On and Other Plays. London: Faber, 1991
The Madness of George III. London: Faber, 1992
Poetry in Motion 2 (with others). 1992
Writing Home (memoir & essays). London: Faber, 1994 (winner of the 1995 British Book of the Year award).
The Madness of King George (screenplay), 1995
Father ! Father ! Burning Bright (prose version of 1982 TV script, Intensive Care), 1999
The Laying on of Hands (Stories), 2000
The Clothes They Stood Up In (novella), 2001
Untold Stories (autobiographical and essays), London, 2005, ISBN 0-571-22830-5
The Uncommon Reader (novella), London, 2007
A Life Like Other People's (memoir), London, 2009
Audio releases
Alan Bennett At The BBC (compilation)
Diaries 1980—1990
Diaries 1997—2004
Telling Tales
Hymn
The Lady In The Van
Alan And Thora
Untold Stories
Written On The Body
A Common Assault
Beyond The Fringe
Alan Bennett's On The Margin
Forty Years On (1973 version)
Forty Years On (2003 version)
Kafka's Dick
An Englishman Abroad (1983 version)
An Englishman Abroad (2006 version)
A Question Of Attribution
The Madness Of King George III
The History Boys
The Lady In The Van (play)
A Woman Of No Importance
The Clothes They Stood Up In
The Laying On Of Hands
Father! Father! Burning Bright
Say Something Happened
A Visit From Miss Protheroe
Two In Torquay
The Uncommon Reader
Dear Philip, Dear Kingsley (with Robert Hardy)
Poetry In Motion
Winnie The Pooh (narrator)
The House At Pooh Corner (narrator)
A Party For Pooh (narrator)
The Wind In The Willows (narrator)
Peter Pan And Wendy (narrator)
The Story Of Doctor Dolittle (narrator)
The Voyages Of Doctor Dolittle (narrator)
Doctor Dolittle's Garden (narrator)
The Owl & The Pussycat (narrator)
The Little Prince (narrator)
Animal Farm (narrator)
Translations
Català
Una lectora poc corrent, 2008
French
Soins intensifs, 2006
La reine des lectrices, 2009
German
Der Rote Baron, Sein letzter Flug, 2001
Vater, Vater, lichterloh, 2002
Così fan tutte, (previously published as Alle Jahre wieder) 2003
Die Lady im Lieferwagen, 2004
Handauflegen, 2005
Die souveräne Leserin, 2008
Italian
La pazzia di re Giorgio, 1996
Nudi e crudi, 2001
La cerimonia del massaggio, 2002
La signora nel furgone, 2003
Signore e signori, 2004
Scritto sul corpo, 2006
La sovrana lettrice, 2007
Il letto di lenticchie
Spanish
Una Patata Frita en el Azúcar, 2003
Una Cama Entre Lentejas, 2003
Una Señora de Letras, 2003
Su Gran Opportunidad, 2003
Ir Tirando, 2003
Una Galleta Crácker Bajo el Sofá, 2003
Una Mujer Sin Importancia, 2003
Con lo puesto, 2003 (The Clothes They Stood Up In)
